New emergency underground facility for office of Home Front Defense inaugurated at IDF's TA base

Hanan Greenberg|Published: 21.06.11 , 14:26

Two weeks after construction was completed and after it has been equipped with state of the art technology, the secure underground facility also knows as "The Pit" at the Rabin Military Base (the "Kirya") in Tel Aviv, is ready for action.

The "Pit" is designed to be used as the Office of Home Front Defense's operation center in case of a national emergency or wartime.

It joins other IDF underground safe-sites located at the Kirya. State Comptroller Micah Lindenstrauss will visit the "Pit" Tuesday and receive a review of the site's operations.

The "Pit" was put into use for the first time within the framework of the Turning Point 5
–a nationwide Home Front Command emergency drill which is taking place this week.

The operation center includes a comprehensive home front emergency planning and strategy system, as well as a closed circuit television system (CCTV) connected to all of the civilian and military networks. It also includes a special system that allows every room in the "Pit" to listen to everything happening in the main operations room in real-time.

The construction of the new "Pit" was the product of previous Home Front Command drills, as well as part of the implementation of lessons learnt from the Second Lebanon War. All deliberations at the Defense Ministry will now be moved to the "Pit".

The "Pit" is designed to accommodate dozens of senior staffers needed to command and oversee the situation on the ground in case of the national emergency.

Home Front Command operations in the "Pit" are to be joined by those of Military Intelligence, the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry, the police, the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and all major IDF corps.